The Source

James Popham (2007) identified a key premise in using test results to inform instructional practice. “The premise underlying the use of these accountability tests is that students’ test scores will indicate the quality of instruction those students have received.” However, in most cases, there is little evidence that test scores should... Read the full article >

I’m talking about both state accountability testing and local testing—i.e., district, school, and classroom. The reason I’m addressing both is because I’ve seen the significant impact the former can have on the latter. In their own testing, local educators often mimic the kinds of tests that produce results for which... Read the full article >

A brief history of equity in education Equity in educational opportunity has been a major focus of federal legislation and programs for over a half a century. It started with the passing of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act in 1965 and continued in all its subsequent reauthorizations, including No... Read the full article >

Getting our Terms Straight One difficulty lies in the various terms educators, policy makers, and other leaders use when they discuss an assessment program or system. In our experience, we’ve learned that talking about different types of assessment can lead to a “Who’s on first?” circular conversation. After a few... Read the full article >

About Lake Hills School Lake Hills School is the Exceptional Student Education Center School for Lake County, Florida, which serves students with significant cognitive disabilities (SwSCD) ages 3–22. All of the classrooms at Lake Hills School are self-contained meaning the classes are multi-grade level and multi-ability level. For example, a... Read the full article >

In addition, early childhood assessment identifies the need for intervention or support services due to developmental delays or other risk factors influencing typical development. Finally, assessment supports programs in evaluating the effectiveness of learning environments, curriculum and instructional practices. A comprehensive assessment system within an early childhood program should include... Read the full article >

What are Formative Assessments and Why Should We Use Them? by Judith Dodge Check out these teacher friendly tips from scholastic for using formative assessments to help differentiate instruction and improve student achievement. The Fatal Flaw of Educational Assessment by W. James Popham In this Education Week commentary, Dr. Popham... Read the full article >

“If we do A,” they say, “B will get better.” Sometimes they are right, at least partially. B may in fact get better. The problem is that, in many cases, B gets better without A having anything to do with it. Because we said A was going to work, though, we call it... Read the full article >

New Profit, a national venture philanthropy firm dedicated to identifying and scaling the most effective models for change in the social sector, recently documented an educational intervention in Massachusetts that we believe fits Weick’s insight to a tee. In 2011, Lawrence Public Schools (LPS) in Massachusetts became the first school... Read the full article >

Research has shown a strong relationship between student engagement and a variety of student success outcomes (e.g., Fredricks et al.,2004; Parsons et al., 2013). For example, Finn and Rock (1997) found that low-income minority students who were observed as engaged, were more likely to be academically successful, achieve passing grades,... Read the full article >